Sunday, 3 May 2015

Facts about Shi Huang Di

Early Life
- Born in 259 BC (210 BC - death, aged 49)
- Father was king of Qin state
- At the time Ying Zheng (original name for Shi Huang Di) was born, China divided up into 7 major states
- Zheng had good education

Becoming King
- When Zheng was thirteen, his father (Zichu- grandson of emperor Chin Shaodi) died
- May have been the son of a lowly merchant, not certain
- Zheng became king at young age, thirteen
- Defeated army who wanted to overthrow him / Set his mother into prison
- For a few years, a regent (someone else) helped him to rule the land together
- When Zheng’s 22, he took full control
- Very ambitious, wanted to conquer other Chinese states and unite China

Uniting China/ Becoming Emperor
- Once had full control, set out to conquer other six Chinese states
- Took them on one by one
- First state conquered : Han state
- Then Zhao and the Wei also conquered
- Then took on powerful Chu state
- Once Chu state was defeated, remaining Yan and Qi state fell easily
- Finally King Zheng was leader of all of China
- Declared himself emperor, changed name to Shi Huang (meaning ‘first emperor’ or ‘Son of Heaven’)
- There were many assassination attempts in his life, which made him want to live forever

Organizing the Empire
- Government : Qin didn’t want the states to think of themselves as independents, so divided country into administrative units. There were 36 “commanderies”, were further divided into districts and counties. Also had government positions appointed according to people’s abilities
- Economy : Qing also unified China, establishing a common money and standard units of measure. The economy ran smoothly because everyone was using same money and measurements units
- Writing - There were many ways of writing in China at that time. Emperor Qing ordered everyone to teach and use the same type of writing.
- Construction : Qing made many improvements to the infrastructure of China. Made many networks of roads and canals built throughout the country. This help to improve trade and travel. Also began building the Great Wall of China. Had many existing walls throughout the country connected to form a long wall that protects China from invaders to the north

A Tyrant
- Although Qing was a skilled leader, was also a tyrant, even at a very young age
- He outlawed most religions and required people to be loyal/obedient only to government
- Ordered most existing books burned
- Wanted history to begin with his rule and the Qin dynasty
- Thought his family would rule China for thousands of years
- However empire collapsed three years after death
- Scholars who didn't bring their books to be burned, were killed

Building a Tomb
- Shi Huang Di most famous for his tomb
- Had over 700,000 workers construct his tomb throughout his life
- Built a large terracotta army of 8,000 soldiers/horses/chariots that ‘he thought’ would protect him in afterlife
- Each of the six-foot tall soldiers had individual faces
- Was obsessed with trying to live forever

Death
- Died traveling on tour of Eastern China in 210 BC
- Second sun, Huhai, was on trip with him
-Huhai wanted to be emperor, so hid his father’s death and forged letter from father to older brother telling him to commit suicide
- After brother killed himself, Huhai became emperor